In Pursuit of Joi by Olivia Renee Wallace (Book)
- Christiana Harrell
- Dec 14, 2013
- 3 min read
Title: In Pursuit of Joi
Author: Olivia Renee Wallace
Publisher: Olivia R. Wallace
Summary: Joi McIntosh is a woman torn. She is married to the perfect husband. She is the mother of the perfect daughter. She has her own thriving business and seems to be living the perfect life. But she has secrets... Secrets that haunt her dreams. Along comes Latoya Bradshaw. She's beautiful, successful, and edgy. She awakens feelings in Joi that have lain dormant for years. She reminds Joi of her past. Joi must decide on whether she wants to continue living the life of the woman that she has become or risk it all to become the woman that she once thought that she was meant to be.
Review:
“I knew if I gave her an inch, she would take a meter and I would ultimately give her a mile.” -Joi
In Pursuit of Joi is about a woman named Joi. Joi is living the American dream: a loving husband, the perfect daughter, and a thriving business. Of course, Joi has a past and throughout this well-scripted novel, her past nags at her, giving us a hint of the emotional baggage that she carried with her and the dormant feeling that lie within. At first, she fights against it, but an interesting woman, Toya, comes into her life and suddenly her past seems more like something to embrace. The journey begins.
There were so many wonderful little things about this book. In pursuit of Joi was a perfect title, Toya being in pursuit of Joi, and Joi being pursuit of well… joy. Joi seemed to have it all together until Toya unravels her. I should be outraged that a married woman starts this affair with a woman but how can I be? The way that Toya pursues Joi is smooth. She test her, inviting her to a “swinger’s club” to see if she is indeed open to “the life.” Toya goes as far as inviting the husband along if it’s the only way that she can have Joi. I wanted to view her as a vulture, but the silent permissions that Joi gave Toya stopped any ill feeling that should have or could have existed. Wallace pulled a Shonda Rhimes on us, making us love the characters that we should hate.
I loved the construction of this novel. One of the most enjoyable scenes was the exchange on Thanksgiving Day, where Toya and Joi stood in the kitchen amongst other women, making inappropriate inside jokes. The exchange between the two from the very first meeting was fascinating, hilarious, nerve wrecking, and satisfying. The most touching scene in this book occurred between Joi and Lexi and I appreciated their relationship both through literature and personally.
“You gave me life, you gave me purpose…”
Wallace did a great job making every character believable: the typically mannish husband, the clueless teenage daughter, the unpredictable lover, and the indecisive main character. Wallace weaved a little of of everybody’s issues into this story without giving us too much or too little. Joi remained in the center while the characters around her gave her life and we even get a glimpse of past character from “She Say, She say.”
In novels to come, I’d like to see Ms. Wallace progress in giving characters their own distinct voice. Throughout the text, each of the women, used ma’am, honey, or lady when referencing one another. Both Anthony and Toya used “I call bullshit” when interacting with Joi at a time. There were several instances and that takes away from the separation of their personalities. Our vernaculars make us who we are. We instantly know someone from Texas versus someone from New York. Other than that, this was a great story. I know that Ms. Wallace is well capable of variety.
I’d also like more background on some of the characters. In places where we got day to day living, I believe we could have learned more about Toya. We get a glimpse of her history when Bobby is thrown at us in chapter seventeen and all hell breaks loose. I loved the twist at the end. I loved how the glimpses of her life were revealed and connected at the end, from the dreams of Tiona, to how Anthony literally saved her.
The growth of this writer from her debut to this has been phenomenal, and I look forward to more and will be recommending this book.
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